Elizabethtown (Music From The Motion Picture)

Sound DNA

• Rock

About

Cameron Crowe has often used his early stint as a <i>Rolling Stone</i> correspondent to good effect in his subsequent career as a Hollywood writer/director. He’s infused an intriguing, eclectic musical sensibility into successes (the autobiographical <i>Almost Famous</i>) and miscues (the warmed-over sci-fi of “Vanilla Sky”) alike. In underpinning this semi-autobiographical reflection on his Kentucky heritage, Crowe’s self-produced song-score weaves together a winning collection that frequently echoes its acoustic Appalachian roots. The album ranges from the opening score extract by Heart’s Nancy Wilson (Crowe’s wife) and Tom Petty’s equally elegiac “It’ll All Work Out” (from his 1987 <i>Let Me Up</i> album) to Ryan Adams’ folksy “Come Pick Me Up,” Patty Griffin’s bittersweet “Long Ride Home,” and the evocative Dylan-meets-Wilco charm of Jeff Finlin’s “Sugar Blue.” Other tracks include Lindsey Buckingham’s fragile slow-burner “Shut Us Down,” the haunting “Where to Begin” by My Morning Jacket, and Petty’s spare lullaby, “Square One,” while the early ‘70s melodrama of Elton John’s “My Father’s Gun” and loopy ‘60s kitsch of The Hombres’ “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)” pay tribute to Crowe’s gold-standard back-catalog tastes. The director also co-wrote the album’s powerful coda, I-Nine’s “Same In Any Language,” with Wilson.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

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